by B. B. Hamel
“Put it the fuck down, bitch!”
Zoe stops and slowly puts the phone back down.
“You fucking bitch! I knew you were going to do this, like everyone fucking does!”
“Louis!” I yell, but he’s raving now, ranting, screaming, waving the gun. Zoe drops to the floor and Brady pushes me behind him again.
Louis turns toward us, and that’s when Brady moves. I scream as he tackles Louis, knocking him to the floor. The gun goes off and I scream again, the sound of it deafening. Brady is on top of Louis, and the fight doesn’t last very long. Brady is way bigger, much younger, and much stronger.
But Louis has the gun. Or at least he did. Brady wrenches it from his hand and uses the one end to smack Louis in the face. The older man groans and goes slack, blood in his mouth from the blow.
“Brady!” I run over as Brady stumbles to his feet. “Oh my god, are you okay?”
He grunts a little. “I’m okay. He didn’t… he missed.”
I throw my arms around him. I pull him close, holding him tight. Louis is on the floor groaning, and all I can think about is how thankful I am that Brady’s okay. I don’t know what I would’ve done if he had gotten hurt for me.
That was the stupidest, bravest thing I’ve ever seen. Brady ran at an unhinged man holding a gun, tackled him, disarmed him, all with his bare hands. He barely hesitated. It was amazing, it was insane.
I kiss him so hard, I can practically feel our teeth touching.
“I love you, Aria,” he whispers to me. “I’m sorry it happened like this.”
“I love you too,” I whisper back, holding him close.
I don’t know how long we stay there. It can’t be very long, because a voice pulls us away from the embrace.
“Is everyone okay in here?”
It’s a tall man, dark skin, wearing a button-down shirt tucked into jeans, a gun held in his hands.
“Bunk,” Brady says, and moves over to talk to the police officer.
Things go fast after that. I check on Zoe, and she’s fine, although shaken up. Bunk cuffs Louis and takes him back to the police station. We follow and spend the rest of the day giving statements.
“What’s going to happen to him?” I ask Brady hours later as we walk back to his car.
He sighs, shakes his head. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t want him to get locked up.”
“Maybe you should.”
I sigh. “Yeah, maybe.”
He takes my hand and kisses me. “It’s over now. You don’t have to worry anymore.”
“What if any client reacts like that?”
“They won’t, but if they do…” He trails off. “I’ll be there for you, if you want.”
“I want that,” I say softly.
“Good.”
We kiss again and he holds me close against him. I feel my whole world shift and I know nothing is going to be the same after this.
“Stay at my place for a while,” he says softly. “As long as you want. And consider our little contract void.”
I bite my lip. “So I don’t have to call you Daddy anymore?”
“Not unless you want to,” he says, a little smile on his lips.
I smile back. “Okay then, Daddy.” I kiss him gently. “Let’s go back to your place.”
“You don’t have to. You’re free now.”
“I know, and this is what I want.”
“Good.” He kisses me. “I really do love you.”
“I really do love you too.”
He squeezes my hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
So we get into his car and he drives me back to his place. I don’t have to go with him. I don’t have to stay.
But I want to. Not because I owe him anything, but because I love being with him. I love the way he makes me feel. I love the way he makes me safe.
And I won’t give that up for anything in the world.
15
Aria
Two Years Later
I watch as the dogs race across the lawn and disappear into the tree line.
“Not too far!” I yell, but they don’t listen to me.
I smile and sip coffee from a travel mug. It’s nice and hot as I walk along the grassy trail toward the woods. My boots crunch over sticks and leaves and I breathe deeply, taking in the cool air.
Brady calls this the country house, but this is hardly the country. We’re right on the outskirts of the city, basically twenty minutes from downtown.
But this is our little oasis.
Six acres didn’t compute with me at first, but now I know how big this land is. There’s so much space, and the dogs love it. I let them run around without a leash because really, there’s nowhere else for them to go that we don’t own.
I smile down at the ring on my finger. Brady and I got engaged a year ago, right after I got into law school at Temple. I said I’d marry him, but only after I graduate.
He said he’d wait forever.
Hopefully, it won’t be that long.
“Hey!”
I look back over my shoulder. Brady comes out of the house and waves.
“Hey!” I call back.
He walks down toward me. It’s Monday morning and he should be at work, but sometimes he decides to skip and stay home with me. I guess this is one of those days.
My heart jumps a little bit. I love those days.
He catches up and kisses me. “Dogs out?” he asks.
“Somewhere ahead,” I say.
“Careful. One of these days, you’ll lose them.”
“No way.” I show him the handful of treats in my pocket. “They know I have these.”
He laughs. “Clever.”
“I’m going to be a lawyer soon. So I need to start thinking outside of the box.”
He laughs again and we start walking.
After we got engaged, we moved out here. Martha was disappointed but he still hires her to help out around the house, even though we don’t really need her. I think he just likes having her around, and she likes having something to do. She walks the dogs, cooks, cleans, that sort of thing. Sometimes, she just plays cards with us out on the porch for hours.
I commute into the city for class, but mostly I’m here. I’m swamped with reading, studying, all that school stuff. I forgot how intense it all can be.
And I still see Zoe all the time. We don’t talk about what happened with Louis. We don’t really talk much about my old job at all. We only talk about the future, and I like it that way.
“Nice day today,” Brady comments. “Couldn’t bring myself to go into the office.”
“I doubt they miss you.”
He grins. “Oh, I’m sure they do. I’m the genius boss, remember?”
“You’re something like that, at least.”
He laughs and we stomp down into the woods. I spot the dogs ahead, playing with some dead branches. Brady whistles and they come running over, crowding around at his feet, before he throws a stick and they go running off again.
“I’ve been thinking,” he says suddenly.
“Oh, yeah? That’s big news.”
He ignores me. “What do you want to do with your degree? I mean, what kind of law do you want to go into?”
I purse my lips. “I don’t know. I have some ideas.”
“Well, what if you became a divorce attorney?”
I make a face. “Sounds awful.”
“Wait, hear me out. You could specialize in helping underprivileged women. I was thinking, I could bankroll a new firm, set something up that will really help people. I know you mentioned wanting to work with underprivileged moms.”
I frown a little bit. “That’s a good idea.”
“I’m full of them.”
“No, seriously. That’s a really good idea. I mean, how many divorce lawyers specialize in helping underprivileged moms? I could actually do some good.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” He smiles a little bit and takes my hand. “What do you t
hink?”
“I think we should seriously talk about that.”
I kiss him and pull him tight against me.
“I just want you to be happy,” he says softly. “I don’t really care what you do. So long as you’re happy.”
“I love you,” I whisper.
“I love you too, little Aria.”
I grin and look up at him. “Daddy.”
He laughs and kisses me. We hold that kiss for a little while, the dogs running around and barking, but we just ignore them.
I don’t know how life turned out this way. I already thought I’d be struggling, working hard helping other people, barely getting by on my own. But Brady changed all that. He paid my student loans and now he’s paying for my law degree. One day, I’ll pay him back, but for now…
Well, for now, I just concentrate on making him happy. Because making him happy makes me happy.
He’s my Daddy. He takes care of me. And I take care of him in return. We give to each other freely and often and that’s the right kind of relationship I’ve always dreamed I’d have.
My old clients weren’t happy when I told them that I wouldn’t be working with them anymore, but they got over it. And as for Louis…
Well, he didn’t serve any jail time. But he’s still on probation. And I have a restraining order against him. Chances are, I’ll never see him again.
At least I hope so. I’m finished worrying about anyone else but my own little family.
We walk into the woods together, the dogs running around. I have a smile on my face like I always do. I’m so content, so happy, and in a way that I never really expected. Life always looked like it would be a struggle.
Now, it’s not a struggle. Every day is hard work, but it’s the kind of hard work that I love.
And it’s all because of Brady. He makes me better, stronger. He enriches everything around him.
I couldn’t be more thankful for that.
THE END
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Also by B. B. Hamel
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Pine Grove
His Taste
His Demand
Hate Love
Hating My New Boss
Hating the Rich Bastard
Hating My New Husband
Hating the Cocky Jock
Dark Daddies
Yes Daddy
Doctor Daddy
Coach Daddy
President Daddy
Professor Daddy
My Favorite Daddy
Rock Hard
Hating the Rock Star
Marrying the Rock Star
Miracle Babies
His Miracle Baby
His Dream Baby
His Perfect Baby
His Wonder Baby
His Amazing Baby
Steamy Daddies
Possessive Daddy
Small Town Daddy
Your Daddy
Virgin’s Daddy
Man of the House
Second Chance
Best Friends with Benefits
Second Chance Husband
Hating the Rock Star
My Brother’s Bad Best Friend
Barone Mafia Family
Step Bride – Book 1
Bastard’s Baby – Book 2
Kissing the Killer – Book 3
Packing Heat – Book 4
Bow Down – Book 5
Big Men
Big Stranger’s Baby
Big Mountain Daddy
Single Dad Billionaire
Virgin Bride
Dark and Filthy
Summer Loving
Intense
Bend
Ruined
Bind
BDSM Bad Boys
Daddy Dom
Daddy’s Baby
Reverse Harem
My Five Daddies
My Brother’s Five Friends
Five Mountain Daddies
Alphaholes
Baby Maker
Lovemaker
Filthy Beast
Hard Bastard
Steamy Sports
Long
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Go Hard
Raunchy Royals
Royal Rock
Prince Player
Prince Billionaire
Sexy SEALs
Second Chance SEAL
One Night SEAL
Raging Hard
SEALed Bride
Bastard SEAL
Stepbrothers
Rock Hard
Stiff
Cocked
Smash
Based
City Series
Undersold
Kinged
Filmed
Honored
Jerked
Bad Boy Bikers
Biker’s Claim
Biker’s Bride
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About the Author
I’m from a little suburb just north of Philadelphia. I love black labs, stupid jokes, and dirty, filthy stories. As an Indie author, your support means everything. Thank you so much for reading!